WHAT'S the worst thing you have ever had to tell your parents?

For Bury transsexual Catrina Day it was the moment she revealed her wish to dress as a woman.

On Tuesday night, Catrina - who was born Gerard Daly - re-lived the moment on national television in front of millions of viewers.

The 43-year-old appeared on the BBC2 talk show Esther to discuss her transsexuality and to make an emotional plea for her mother to accept her as she is.

Catrina, who has just under-gone a successful gender reassignment operation in Brussels, says she now feels "as near to a woman as is possible."

She told her parents two years ago, a year after she started on a course of female hormone treatments.

"I told my dad at a wedding in Glasgow," said Catrina. "Although I waited until he'd had a few gin and tonics first. He actually took it very well. He gave me a hug and said life was too short.

"I gave him a photograph of myself dressed as a woman for him to show my mum, but she told me not to come home dressed like that. My mum still can't bring herself to call me Catrina.

"It is very difficult and I can understand that. I can see her side of it too."

Catrina is open about her feelings, she believes that being open helps combat ignorance, prejudice and fear. She says: "I never claimed to be a man trapped in the wrong body. Everyone has different reasons for their transsexuality."

For 'Gerard', the roots of his transsexuality stem from a difficult childhood.

Born with mild cerebral palsy, he was picked on at school and suffered abuse in his early teens.

But it was following the death of his second wife that he began dressing in women's clothes.

Catrina said: "It took off in a big way then. But soon it wasn't enough. I had to go all the way."

Now 'he' has become 'she', people often ask the striking brunette if she prefers men or women.

"I still very much like women," she explains. "And I'd like to share my life with a woman on a permanent basis. My partner might be a lesbian or bi-sexual."

In the future Catrina plans to give talks about transsexuals at universities, beauty institutes and hairdressing schools, to help staff understand how to deal with people similar to herself.

She said: "I tell people about my experience. Being open is the best way to help people understand."

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